Russia's Transportation Ministry will allocate 1.6 trillion rubles ($54.6bn) for the development of Moscow's subway within the next nine years, a business daily quoted the transport program for the Russian capital and its surrounding region until 2020.

The Belkomur railway line running across the European part of Russia is expected to be launched in 2017, the Komi RepublicŐs Governor Vyacheslav Gaizer said, the press service of the regional government reported Tuesday.

State-owned railroad monopoly Russian Railways plans to increase investments in upgrading railways in the Leningrad Region 54% on the year to 14.1 billion rubles in 2011, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.